The digital home is now becoming more complex with the myriad of new and emerging digital devices and services intended to address many user and consumer needs such as communication, entertainment, privacy and security, etc. These digital devices can be connected with a gateway device in the user premises to form a home network. The digital devices can have a variety of functionalities, as well as proprietary interfaces and communication protocols to access such functionalities. Although an increasing number of emerging digital devices are enabled with programming for client-server communications using presence and networking message protocols, many digital devices rely on proprietary communications protocols and driver programs to allow them to interoperate with devices in a home network.
A home network user may desire to have the associated devices of the home network provide alerts, notifications, status, or other messages to the user in response to particular events, and have such messages directed to specific individuals and/or digital endpoint devices for display. Upon receipt of such messages, the user may desire to provide instructions to one or more of the digital devices of the home network. The user may also desire to determine the status of one or more of the devices of the home network in the absence of an event. The home network user may also desire to remotely handle and/or control various endpoint devices associated with a gateway device of the home network. However, the user may wish to limit the “visibility” of specific endpoint devices and their functions to local or remote servers providing applications services or server-side presence and networking communications for the home network.
Additionally, the user may wish to establish peer to peer communications between the gateway device in the user premises and another local or remote gateway device with associated endpoint devices. The peer to peer connection is desirable, as it may enable a user to access the functionalities and status of endpoint devices associated with another gateway. The peer to peer communication is also desirable, as it minimizes management of communications between two or more gateway devices.
In that regard, it would be desirable to provide a gateway device for a user premises that provides a presence and networking messaging client for client-server communications, wherein endpoint devices associated with the gateway device may not be enabled themselves with such clients. It may be further desirable to enable a gateway device to be configured by a services subscriber or a service provider to facilitate the handling of events by the gateway and provide notices, status, or other messages in response to events, and route such messages to particular parties and/or devices for display. Moreover, it may be desirable for associated endpoint devices to communicate with one another via the gateway device, without using presence and networking communications. It may be further desirable to enable peer to peer communications between two or more gateway devices.